Hudson case: Expert testifies Balfour's DNA not found on gun

CaptionAmy E. Thompson

José M. Osorio, Chicago Tribune

Assistant Public Defender Amy E. Thompson, middle, following the sentencing of William Balfour at the Leighton Criminal Courthouse in Chicago. William Balfour, convicted of killing Oscar-winner Jennifer Hudson's mother, brother and nephew, was sentenced to 3 life sentences.

Assistant Public Defender Amy E. Thompson, middle, following the sentencing of William Balfour at the Leighton Criminal Courthouse in Chicago. William Balfour, convicted of killing Oscar-winner Jennifer Hudson's mother, brother and nephew, was sentenced to 3 life sentences. (José M. Osorio, Chicago Tribune)

Assistant State's Attorney James P. McKay walks in the lobby following the sentencing of William Balfour at the Leighton Criminal Courthouse in Chicago. William Balfour, convicted of killing Oscar-winner Jennifer Hudson's mother, brother and nephew, was sentenced to 3 life sentences.

Assistant State's Attorney James P. McKay walks in the lobby following the sentencing of William Balfour at the Leighton Criminal Courthouse in Chicago. William Balfour, convicted of killing Oscar-winner Jennifer Hudson's mother, brother and nephew, was sentenced to 3 life sentences. (José M. Osorio, Chicago Tribune)

William Balfour’s DNA was not on the murder weapon he is accused of using to kill three members of singer Jennifer Hudson’s family, a forensic expert testified today in the eighth day of Balfour’s trial.

Pauline Gordon, an analyst for the Illinois State Police, told jurors she tested the .45-caliber Sig Sauer pistol and found a “very low-level, very limited” amount of DNA belonging to a male, but the sample excluded Balfour as the person who left the genetic material. She said the DNA could have been left by Hudson’s brother, who owned the weapon, but the sample was too small to provide an exact match.

Jurors listened intently as Gordon detailed her findings, some leaning forward and scribbling in notepads. She explained that DNA would not be present if the killer was wearing gloves or wiped down the weapon. She said DNA can degrade quickly if it is exposed to weather.

Balfour, 30, is accused of bursting into the Hudson family home in Englewood on Oct. 24, 2008, and fatally shooting Hudson’s brother, Jason Hudson, 29, and mother Darnell Donerson, 57, before kidnapping and killing her nephew, 7-year-old Julian King. He was allegedly angry over the breakup of his marriage to Hudson’s sister, Julia, his estranged wife, and jealous she was seeing another man.

Julian’s body was found three days after the killings inside Jason Hudson’s white SUV, which had been parked on the West Side. The next day, police found the alleged murder weapon tossed in some weeds in a nearby vacant lot.

Gordon told jurors that in addition to the gun, she also tested numerous samples taken from the SUV, including swabs from door handles, the rear view mirror, gear shift and other areas someone might have touched. She also examined pop bottles, a cigarette butt and used tissue that were found strewn about the vehicle.

None of the samples matched Balfour’s DNA, Gordon said.

In earlier testimony, Illinois State Police forensic analyst Robert Berk testified he found gunshot residue on the ceiling above the rear seat of the SUV as well as on a steering wheel cover in Balfour’s green Chrysler, which was found on the day of the murders parked about a mile from the Hudson home.

Berk said the residue on the steering wheel cover was consistent with someone firing a gun, then driving the car.

In bringing some of their most damning testimony against Jennifer Hudson's former brother-in-law, Cook County prosecutors on Thursday relied on some colorful witnesses, including a former crack addict, a jail inmate and a man who waited more than two years to come forward with his story.

NAVAL STATION NORFOLK — The Navy on Saturday commissioned the USS John Warner, adding a 12th Virginia-class submarine to the fleet and celebrating the legacy of its namesake, the retired senator who was hailed as a statesman.